The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series hits Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday and after a heap of rain throughout the weekend, qualifying went out the window and instead was decided by the practice speed results, putting Carl Edwards in the pole position with Martin Truex and Marcos Ambrose behind him.
Most of the drivers knew that rain was coming and treated the practice runs with some importance and it ended up working out for Edwards, while Joey Logano will be in the fourth position and Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth behind. Denny Hamlin is returning from injury and will be in seventh place after easing back into things since missing four races in a row due to a fracture in his back. The rest of the top starters include Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne, while last years Sprint Cup champ Brad Keselowski also won here last year.
Michael Waltrip will be in the car for the second time this year and he could be one of the primary racers on Sunday, as he was going strong last year before getting caught in a wreck. He won at the track in 2003 and he also led laps earlier in the year at Daytona. Hamlin has eased back into action since getting into a crash and dealing with a fracture and he now will start up seventh after a solid run during the week.
Hamlin was cleared by doctors and Talladega is his first race back since March and there is a chance he could switch out at the first caution just to get some work in. The rules allow for a switch due to the length and Hamlin will be able to get the points for the start. Hamlin originally was supposed to miss six races, but he recovered quicker than expected. Hamlin may need surgery later down the line and he could get injured further if he gets caught up in another crash.
The Nationwide race on Saturday had crashes all over and Regan Smith ended up with the Talladega win after NASCAR checked out the footage. Rain marred most of the day and delayed the race and eventually on the final lap things got tight and there eventually was a caution and after the video was looked at after seeing Smith, Joey Logano and Kahne go after it, it was determined Smith won. Last week Kevin Harvick won at Richmond, Matt Kenseth took Kansas, while Kyle Busch won at Texas for the NRA 500. Jimmie Johnson won the pole and the race at Martinsville, which followed the win for Busch at California.
